Wiston Auxiliary Unit Patrol

Thank you for selecting information on the Wiston Auxiliary Unit Patrol
located in Sussex. The info below has come from our internal archive and a donation of information from Ron
Crumpler.

Research into this patrol and its training is ongoing. The information below is published
from various sources and is by no means conclusive. If information is not
listed below it does not necessarily mean the information is not out there but normally means
CART researchers have not found it yet.

If you have any information on this patrol or can help with research in this area please do
contact us.

Wiston is a scattered village in West Sussex and was dominated by the Estate of Wiston Park.

At stand down Sussex was area 13. Wiston was part of group 3 under the Area Group Command of Captain A Cooper of
Small Dole, along with Goodwood, Stansted, Warningcamp, North Stoke, West Stoke, Clapham, Arundel, Small Dole
and Selsey (South Mundham) Patrols.

Currently unknown.

Lieutenant H “Jack” Webley.Fair Oak, Wiston. A farmer.
Herbert W “Bert” Deane of Fair Oak, Wiston. A gamekeeper on the Wiston Estate.
J F N “Jack” Grange of Wiston. A land agent on the Wiston Estate.
John Heath of Findon. A farmer.
John Scragg of the Grammar School. A school teacher.
Wilfred J How of Steyning. A farmer from near Wiston Park.
Frank C Crumpler of Washington. Head gamekeeper on the Wiston Estate.

Aiming to place all Auxiliers in their Patrols, CART has used the home addresses recorded on the nominal roll to
include: Alfred T Small of Findon.

Though they could have been in a nearby Patrol.

Other known Auxiliers that lived within the area of Wiston were :
Leslie W Frampton of Shoreham on Sea
B V Sayers, transferred to 3rd Bn Home Guard July 1943
W E Sanderson, transferred to 3rd Bn Home Guard July 1943.
Though, again they could be from nearby Patrols.

The Operational Base has now collapsed.

Ron Crumpler, son of Auxilier Frank C Crumpler, recalls the OB. 'The base was constructed by the
Royal Engineers and, on completion, a local Canadian army unit was charged with the task of locating it within a
designated mile square. They failed. The entrance was concealed by a weathered tree trunk with a splintered top, a
12 to 15 in diameter trunk and some 20 to 25 ins high.'

'We never entered the base due to safety concerns. There was at least one telephone equipped outpost, wired
in a manner so as to frustrate the location of the base by means of the telephone wires. The base was located about
a mile or so north of Wiston House, on the opposite side of the A283.'

The images below supplied by Stewart Angell show it's location.

Ron Crumpler, son of Auxilier Frank C Crumpler, recalls the targets. 'All targets were
notified of the night on which the attacks were to take place, presumably to enhance the level of defence to that
expected of the Germans under invasion conditions.

Shoreham Airfield - 'Seven planes were ?destroyed? with no auxiliaries detected. My
father commented that it was a long way across the airfield and back on ones belly, particularly with time set fuse
sticks in your pockets!'

Canadian Army Camp -'Possibly Wiston House. No auxiliaries were detected. A rifle was
removed from a billet and later returned to the camp commander with the patrol's complements. The guards walked up
and down. When two met, one advised the other that the auxiliaries were like “snakes in the grass.” How true that
guard was, my father could have touched them both.

Various Radar Stations.

Currently unknown though it is assumed they trained at the regional HQ at Totting ton Manor.

Patrol members were all asked to volunteer to be parachuted into France as a pre-invasion plan. The men all
declined, considering themselves unsuitable for such as ambitious plan.

1938

Ron Crumpler, son of Auxiliers Frank C Crumpler, recounts, For obvious reasons, in
the event of an invasion, the Auxiliaries families were to be evacuated well away from the area;
those at Winston, to Scotland. There was clearly a good level of camaraderie within the patrol.
Their means of transport included an Austin 7 and a large American car. The Austin always went
first. On encountering a hill, the Austin passengers reported that there would be a sudden surge of
power as though God was giving the little car a hand! On the riffle range, firing a round through
the target marker pointing stick was seen as a bit of fun.'

My father was an extremely good shot with both rifle and shot gun. He rarely missed.
Like all sporting marksmen he shot with both eyes wide open and the range setting on his riffle was
never changed. In clay pigeon shooting he was champion gamekeeper of Kent in 1938 and, after the
war, champion gamekeeper of the UK. His father, on
retiring at 65 became a member of the English team and retained his position, without break, until
the age of 70.